Amendment to Poland’s energy law (the so-called ‘Grid Act’)

New burdens and obligations applying to grid connecting process from 30 April 2026

New obligations and costs for electricity connections with voltage exceeding 1kV are being introduced in Poland. Investors should review their development portfolios to avoid risks of losing electricity connections.

The new obligations apply to the procedure of connecting to the power grid. Key points that investors should be aware of include:

• Electricity grid connection conditions will be valid for 12 months.
• Expiration of the grid connection agreements if a construction permit is not secured within statutory deadline.
• Increased financial obligations, applicable also to already existing connection conditions and connection agreements.
• Introduction of new “flexible” and “customisable” power grid connection agreements.

1. Shorter validity period for grid connections

The electricity grid connections will be valid for one year rather than two years, as has been the case until now..

2. Statutory deadline for obtaining a building permit

Investors are required to obtain a final building permit for the investment within:

• 24 months fromf the execution of the connection agreement:
• for photovoltaics and energy storage – the building permit must cover facilities with at least 80% of the contractual connection capacity;
• for energy intake connections – the building permit must cover facilities with at least 50% of the contractual connection capacity.
• 36 months from the execution of the connection agreement:
• for wind turbines and biogas facilities – the building permit must cover facilities with at least 80% of the contractual connection capacity;
• for transformers and electrical switchboards – the building permit must cover facilities without minimum power capacity.

Failure to obtain the building permit and notify the grid operator within the prescribed deadline causes expiry of the power grid connection agreement by virtue of law, save for force majeure cases expressly listed in law.

Connection agreements concluded between 16 October 2022 and 15 October 2026 will expire by virtue of law if the investor does not provide the declaration of a final building permit by:

• 16 April 2029 for photovoltaics, energy storage and building installations,
• 16 April 2030 for wind turbines, biogas facilities, transformers and electrical switchboards.

Connection agreements concluded before 16 October 2022 will expire by virtue of law if the investor does not provide the declaration of a final building permit by:

• 16 April 2027 for wind turbines,
• 16 January 2027 for photovoltaics, energy storage, biogas facilities, transformers and electrical switchboards.

3. Increased financial obligations for investors

3.1 Higher advance payment towards connection fee

• The advance payment is payable not later than on submitting the application for connection conditions;
• the advance payment amounts to PLN 60 per each kW (PLN 60,000 per MW);
• the maximum advance payment cap now amounts to PLN 6,000,000 (before PLN 3,000,000);
• in case the application refers to increase of capacity of existing connections, the advance payment shall apply only to such increase.

The increased advance applies also to pending applications.

If on 16 October 2026 an investor holds connection conditions that are to remain valid until 16 April 2027 or later, then the investor must pay or top-up the increased advance until 16 April 2027.

3.2 New fee for the application for the determination of connection conditions

• New fee for the application for connection conditions in the amount of PLN 1 per kW (PLN 1,000 per MW) – payable not later than on submitting of the application.
• The maximum fee is capped at PLN 100,000 per connection.
• The application will not be reviewed unless the due payment is made.

The fee is non-refundable. The fee also applies to applications made prior to 30 April 2026 but not reviewed yet – in such case the fee must be paid by 14 May 2026.

3.3 New collateral securing performance of contractual obligations under connection agreement

• The investor is obliged to provide a collateral securing performance of contractual obligations under connection agreement in a form of: (i) a deposit or (ii) a bank guarantee, or (iii) a corporate guarantee issued by an entity having a required rating – payable by the investor within 14 days since conclusion of the connection agreement. Failure to provide the collateral results in the expiration of the agreement by virtue of law.
• For connections with capacity under 100MW, the collateral amounts to 30 PLN per kW (30,000 PLN per MW)
• For each kW of capacity exceeding above 100MW, the collateral amounts to 60 PLN per kW (60,000 PLN per MW)
• The maximum required collateral amounts to 12,000,000 PLN

Investors that obtain grid connection conditions before 16 October 2026 but do not enter into a connection agreement by that date will be required to provide collateral in the amount of 25% of the above required collateral.

If a connection agreement concluded before 16 October 2026 specifies a connection date later than 16 October 2029, then the investor is required to provide collateral in the amount of 25% of the full amount by 16 April 2027. If the collateral is not provided, the connection agreement expires by virtue of law.

4. “Flexible” and “customisable” power grid connection agreements

4.1 Flexible connection agreements (Polish: elastyczne umowy o przyłączenie)

This new type of grid connection agreement is introduced to address the problem of temporary lack of technical capacity of the grid that may be solved in the future by expansion of grid infrastructure

The flexible connection agreement allows to operate development at limited power capacity until the grid expansion is completed.

Conditions under flexible connection agreement shall comply with the following rules:

• Capacity limitation is temporary and may not last longer than 3 years since the date of the agreement.
• The grid operator informs the investor that the power grid expansion is completed within 30 days of its completion – since then, the connection may operate at its full designed power capacity.

4.2 Customisable connection agreements (Polish: konfigurowalne umowy o przyłączenie)

This type of connection agreement imposes limitations on power output/consumption depending on variable grid capacity or other factors.

• A customizable connection agreement may be signed when an unrestricted connection to the power grid is not possible even after the power grid is expanded.
• Power capacity limitations may vary in time and may depend on the following factors:
  • time intervals,
  • electrical network parameters in the area,
  • third-party installation specifications (e.g. variable production volumes),
• These limitations are indefinite and the grid operator is not required to remove them upon power grid expansion.

5. Grid capacity allocation through tenders

Until the end of 2028, the grid operator may allocate portions of available grid capacity through competitive tendering instead of regular queue-based principle. This creates an alternate route to gain grid access during the transitional period.